An insight over time into undecorated tombs of the Kings’ Valley (Luxor, Egypt): the challenge of 14C dating

• 31 Radiocarbon determinations have been carried out at the Ifao lab (LSC method) on Egyptian mummies (18th–25th dyn.). • It enables us to reconstruct the history of tomb KV 40 over time to relate it to KV 31 and KV 64 neighbouring tombs. • This is the first time such a large series of radiocarbon dates was carried out on Egyptian human mummies from the Kings' Valley. Tomb KV40 in the Kings’ Valley (Luxor, Egypt) has been known for a long time but no archaeological information was collected before the University of Basel Kings’ Valley Project. It has revealed the remains of more than 80 carefully mummified adults and children. Archaeological investigations attest two periods of use during the reign of Amenhotep III, dedicated to the king’s children, and from the 22nd–25th dynasty. Revealing the presence of royal children buried in the 18th dynasty would be of crucial importance for deepening our knowledge of the various social groups that used the Kings’ Valley as a burial place. Five mummy fragments differentiated by anthropological investigations were selected with twenty textile fragments, all originating from the mummies’ wrappings, for radiocarbon dating. ATR-FTIR analyses were carried out to check the possibility of exogenous organic materials due to mummification. Results confirm the use of KV 40 during the 18th dynasty (1510–1362 to 1345–1300 BCE) to receive mummies of royal children and the royal entourage under the reigns of Thutmose IV and Amenhotep III, and its re-use from 869–795 to 767–645 BCE. It is the first time that such a large series of radiocarbon dates has been carried out on Egyptian human mummies from the Kings’ Valley in Luxor.